Humanoid robots just removed a gallbladder in a live surgery

Next time you go in for a surgery, will your doctor be a five-foot tall, 60 pound humanoid robot named Surgie? It very well could be!

A team of surgeons and engineers at University of California San Diego just successfully completed the first ever pair of surgeries during a preclinical trial using teleoperated humanoid robots.

Both of the surgeries were performed on non-primate mammals, so we're not yet at the level of operating on humans quite yet. But, it seems headed in that direction.

One surgery involved a humanoid robot and a human surgeon teaming up to perform a gallbladder removal. The human doctor acted as the assistant during the procedure. However, the second surgery, a laparoscopic gallbladder removal, was performed completely by a team of two humanoid robot surgeons.

"This study shows that humanoid robots have a viable future in the field of surgery," said UC San Diego Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering's Michael Yip, who is also one of the paper's senior authors.

A robot surgeon is more than just an impressive accomplishment. The team detailed the important and practical uses for humanoid robots like Surgie at the operating table.

"Remotely operated and autonomous humanoid robots have real potential for amplifying access to critical surgeries to which patients would otherwise not have access," Yip said to UC San Diego Today. "This can help address the healthcare crisis not only in the United States, but also worldwide.”

The team provided examples such as humanoid robots "being deployed in remote communities where staffing is challenging, or in austere environments like search and rescue scenarios where a massive deployment of field medicine is needed in a short period of time."

Standing at only five-feet tall and weighing just 60 pounds also makes Surgie extremely mobile and compact in size.

However, there are still some kinks that need to be worked out. The team says the humanoid robot had to be recalibrated a few times during the surgery, which extended the time it took to complete the procedure. In addition, latency issues are still be worked on. Latency, or the time it takes for a human to control the robot and the robot responding, is especially important regarding deploying these robots in remote locations.

Regardless of these issues, the team behind Surgie believes there is a role the humanoid robot can play right now in the field. Being a humanoid robot means that Surgie can walk around and perform tasks similar to humans. Researchers envision scenarios where Surgie can work as an assistant in the operating room, getting tools for the human surgeons and cleaning up after procedures.

"Many communities struggle with adequate staffing on the surgical team, which means patients are not being treated," Yip said. "Our goal is an operating theatre of the future, where humanoid robots and humans work side by side as an integrated team to deliver procedures to those in need, both in traditional hospital settings as well as in non-traditional, field medicine scenarios."

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